Secret Weapon Spouse - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,34

was going to do about it. She’d tried fighting her feelings for all the good it had done. She felt excited and scared and had to remind herself that Alex Graham didn’t know who she was. And when he did—

He drove up in his pickup and smiled at her as she stepped out into the humid night air. She could feel him watching her. Looking for something? Or just looking? She feared either way that ultimately he would be disappointed.

FOR THE SECOND TIME, Alex sensed there was something she wanted to say but had stopped herself as she climbed into the truck.

“Something on your mind?” he asked as he drove.

She touched her upper lip with her tongue. “I need to tell you something.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “You’re going to kill me but first…I’m starved and I’m willing to bet you haven’t had a thing to eat all day. I know this place that serves the best marinara sauce you’ve ever tasted. It’s not far from here and we can have the celebratory drink.”

“You’re always feeding me,” she said, sounding a little embarrassed.

“I like to eat and I hate to eat alone.” He didn’t add that he liked to see her eat. Or that she looked better since he’d started feeding her. “Great, then,” he said and reached over to squeeze her hand as he drove toward the restaurant. He felt her start, tension jumping just under her skin.

He picked up a small buzz of electricity himself when he touched her, but his was attraction. He feared that hers was something entirely different.

VICTOR CONSTANTINE made the call the minute he saw them come out of the hospital. Alex Graham and the wedding planner, Samantha Peters, crossed to the parking lot and got into Graham’s pickup. He’d broken his number-one rule. He’d found out who he was following.

“They just left the hospital.” Probably to visit Alex’s sister, Caroline Graham. He’d made a point of finding that out, too. Just as he had found out who the woman was with Alex Graham. Caroline Graham had regained consciousness. He wondered if his client knew that. Or cared.

Victor couldn’t help but wonder what his client’s stake was in all this. It was a first time for him, wondering. Worth doing some investigating on his own. He was looking forward to breaking into Samantha Peters’s house once he got her address. Her, he was very curious about.

It should have worried him more that he’d broken his own rules. But he told himself this was his last job. Why not indulge his curiosity?

“Follow them. Maybe we’ll get lucky tonight and find out where the woman lives. That is, if you don’t lose her again.”

Victor said nothing. There was nothing he could say. His client didn’t even know that he’d lost her not once but twice.

Tonight he would be more careful. Tonight, he would be ready for her. But even as he thought it, he wasn’t sure that would help.

THE ITALIAN CAFÉ was small and intimate and just perfect for a romantic evening—or a place to talk to Samantha Peters and find out what she was hiding.

But at the same time, he knew that once she told him it was going to change things. He wasn’t sure he was ready for that.

“Romano,” Alex said cheerfully as he greeted the owner.

The large Italian clasped his hand warmly. “Alex, so nice to see you and who do you have here?” He released Alex’s hand to take both of Samantha’s in his. He said in Italian, “She looks like you’ve been starving her. But not to worry. I will fatten her up.”

“Fattening up is the last thing I need,” Samantha answered in perfect Italian.

Alex stared at her in surprise. Samantha Peters was just full of surprises, wasn’t she?

Romano laughed heartily, warming to her even more. “I have just the thing for you. I’ll have my chef make it special.” He let go of her hands and touched his lips with his fingertips in a kiss.

“You speak Italian,” Alex said.

“As do you,” she said in Italian.

He smiled over at her. “A nice quiet booth in the back?” he said to Romano, although never taking his eyes off Samantha. The woman never ceased to amaze him.

The café owner led them back through the narrow room, past red-and-white-checked tablecloths, glowing candles and tall wooden booths draped with brightly colored curtains.

Samantha slid into the booth and looked around, seeming uncomfortable, as if she felt out of place. As he sat down across from her, he